Waste Management

Research is focused, through the Dalton Nuclear Institute's Research Centre for Decommissioning & Radwaste, on providing solutions to the challenges of effectively managing radioactive waste materials and of furthering understanding of the behaviour of wasteforms and radionuclides in the environment.

Research Programme:

Schematic of a deep geological disposal facility.

The research programme delivered through RCRD seeks to effectively link academic strength with the needs of governments and industry to deliver effective long term solutions to the challenges faced when treating and safely disposing of radioactive waste materials.

Radiochemistry: Covering all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, including; fundamental science relevant to process chemistry, waste management and environmental impact. The University maintains a unique academic facility for handling transuranic elements enabling actinide coordination chemistry research.
Materials - Material systems used for the long-term containment of nuclear waste are required to be robust, and well understood. A key safety challenge is predicting the life-time performance of waste container materials, and the stability of waste forms, during interim storage and deep geological disposal. Developing an understanding of corrosion processes and their effect on material behaviour will provide confidence in potential waste management systems.
Geology: RCRD has renowned geological expertise ranging from the molecular to the tectonic scale. Capability includes high resolution 3D geo-modelling, experimental determination of rock characteristics, mineral and fluid analysis, and geochemical modelling.
Geomicrobiology - Research at Manchester links state of the art molecular microbiology/ecology facilities in the RCRD, with world leading programmes in “omics” research in the Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre and Faculty of Life Sciences. These powerful techniques are being used to help us understand the mechanisms of radionuclide biotransformations, the methods of adaptation of microbes to highly radioactive environments and the impact of microbial metabolism on contaminated land and stored radioactive materials.
Graphite - UK graphite moderated reactors will produce ~ 90,000 tons of irradiated graphite waste after operation ceases, therefore radioactive graphite core dismantling and the waste management is an important issue. The radioactive isotopes of concern are ³H,¹⁴C, ³⁶Cl, ⁶⁰Co, ¹⁵²Eu and ¹³⁷Cs. Pioneering research at the University of Manchester has reduced the activity and removed the impurities through chemical leaching and thermal treatment.
Modelling - Modelling is of paramount importance for predicting the repository impact on the environment. We develop models for damage and failure of engineered barriers that couple mechanical, chemical, radiation, thermal and biological effects. These are applied to the integrity and conductive behaviour of wasteforms, waste containers, backfills and near-field geological formation.
Biogeochemisty - Biogeochemistry research at Manchester includes radionuclide biogeochemistry as well as the mineralogy and environmental chemistry of radionuclide affected environments. We are actively working on contaminated land, geological disposal and legacy pond wastes and work takes place across the Centre for Radiochemistry Research and RCRD. We have a newly commissioned and unique facility for characterising the molecular ecology of radionuclide impacted materials.

Geological Disposal:

The UK's decision to dispose of its radioactive waste in an underground facility requires development of a multi barrier system to retain the radioactive waste for up to 1 million years. This requires development of a range of stable wasteforms, heat and corrosion resistant containers, cement and clay fillers, and cementitious construction materials. The host lithologies are also critical to this system, and understanding the site and rock characteristics and their containment capabilities is essential. The role of microbial activity in the repository will be very important and research on biological-radionuclide interactions is essential.

Relevant research at RCRD is focused on:

Geological site characterisation and geotechnics
Environmental radiochemistry
Wasteform design and performance
Repository design
Backfill material performance
Corrosion technologies and radiation damage
Near field studies and source term modelling including microbiological and physico-chemical processes
Far field contaminant transport modelling
Biosphere uptake and dosimetric calculations
Modelling of performance of near field components
Socio-economic and socio-technological aspects